Department of Defense Could be Favoring Certain Private Sector Vendors

Documentation exclusively obtained by The Floridian suggests the Department of Defense (DOD) may be spending taxpayer dollars wastefully, or at the very least, could be preferring some private sector vendors over others.

The findings come as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, under President Donald Trump’s leadership, spearheads efforts to reduce wasteful spending at the DOD.

According to a ‘Justification Review Document’, i.e., a memorandum justifying a contract, the DOD recently contracted with Southern Foodservice Management to supply the Fort Gregg-Adams military base with food and dining services.

The contract is valued at $30 million and runs for one year, from January 2025 to January 2026.

In the review, however, the DOD admits that no companies other than Southern Foodservice Management were approached for providing service, raising doubts about the legitimacy and efficiency of the contract.

The officers drafting the document claim that the timeframe available for securing the food and dining services inhibits DOD from contacting different vendors and comparing their services.

“A competitive action is not possible for this requirement due to the short timeline to procure the services needed to prevent mission failure to the Government,” reads the document.

There is only one food service vendor out of dozens that can fill this need for the U.S. Army?

The Army contends that

Southern Food Services has been previously contracted by DOD in recent years for similar services in deals amounting to over $80 million, and DOD has repeatedly claimed it could not conduct a competitive analysis for some of its contracts.

The type of contract awarded to Southern Food Services is colloquially known as a no-bid contract.

The Floridian recently spoke to lawmakers investigating potential wasteful spending at DOD, who underscored the need for a thorough review of the DOD budget and no-bid contracts.

"Everything ought to be looked at. I spent a whole career in the military. There's certainly a lot of waste there," said Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL), a 26-year Navy aviator veteran.

Similarly, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, stated that no-bid contracts “can be easily exploited."

In a following up conversation and upon learning of the aformentioned "no-bid" contract with Southern Foods, Rep. Mast reiterated his concerns on the matter, stating that this was something that DOGE needed to look into, adding that he would reach out to the administration in the coming days.

Rep. Mast added that DOD is currently in "transition," but that potential favoritism by way of "no-bid" contracts  or personal relationships between vendors and procurement managers, could "point to government corruption," let alone an issue with full transparency.